The evening world. Newspaper, August 9, 1912, Page 11

The —-.______., Big West, by the Author of TWO-GUN MAN” and RANGE RIDERS.” ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE CABIN, READING A NOTE THE MAN HAD ! (Copsright, 1912, Ly the Outing Poblishing had been ¢NOPSIS OF "8 Instatuest, me erinae Perris owDS af auch, and van er back | Martha Tene r to awa 1 tt who ts trying to drive Ferris out of ¢ Qld Man Rankin’ bas hired a * named Hubbell to rid iim le nuspecte Merris of Martha's ister, secretly a Gered at lis preference for . openly with Hubbell 1, vemls off thro ae A atulatin, lage adage Say A ‘epect APTER I. kare of wou Continued.) o s to see bh The Horse Thief. Spies Py Peat Set HUBBELL did not remove the ard th sharp co saddle j my. He got } tled the ania: and where he Satara I reckon we've nt a prover mour dctpation river, Yellow soft, yell through a sea Yellow H broke abr level of ¢ river dim trall that led balsama about whit ten-——and whier Hubbe But when the gun from his pony and ly toward promontory t grov He shadows, into them he horses there to 1 we Horse ght Wh tly off tain that when told ¢ » sald ter did boys At was it long time w sed to find befure ain, The a the edge ¢ npation thy. lly when 1 tren © paw nin?" OT TOOT, TooT'| GLANG! GLANG! { un? THERE mus? TRE A Cow ON TH An Ideal Midsummer Romance of the Eveni “THE ing fenrfully at the grim faces of the “ punehers near him THE “Meanin’ that we've caught you with the goods decla Ferris coldly. eves flashed with a growing doubt and dread. Yet he kept 4 good grip on him- self—even xmiling when one of the punchers stepped close to himsand deftly removed the two guns from his holsters, You boys are sure fun’ nt. he satd. “But I ain't none scared. So you might @s well call {t off.” He pointed a finger at the man who had brought Rankin's note to him. “That there's the man which brung the note me to come here.” Ferris turned to the puncher that the sunnfan indicated. “I reckon you've heant what he said,” he said, gribtiv: “did you give him @ note from Rankin?" The man #hook his head. Rankin in a month, Ferris grinned coldly as he saw Hubs bell stiffen. He motioned to one of the men and the latter began significantly to uncot! a rope that he produced from somewhere. Hubbell took a backward Step, lil lips twitching strangely. Vhy—why"—— he began, his v catching in his throat. he said, “tellin’ “T ain't seen he returned tee “T reckon you bove ain't goin’ to do that!” he said, pointing to the rope, “I can take a Joke ax well as most men, but you're carryin’ It a heap too far, There ain't nothin’ happened to show that horse thief. That there mi me the 1 from” The man grinned and Ferris rupted coldly, “Where's the note?"* questioned. “I burned 1t—like Rankin said,” re- turned the gunman. Grins appeared on the faces of sev- eral of the men. Ferris lifted his voice derisively. “Yes,” he said coldly, “a man brung you a note, only he says he didn't An’ you had a note, only you burnet tt. 4" we've found two of my horses ted there an’ we caught you sneakin’ around in the brush.” motioned to the punchers and me close to Hubbell and ranged .themselves around him. Two of them kelzed his arms; two more were sud- denly engaged in casting one end of a rope over a huge branch of one of the tr stil ‘another sombrely cocked his six-shoo ‘Then Hubbell's fortitude deserted him. His knees gave. way; he sud- denly sagged forward—a dead weight in the hands of the two men who had seized his, arms. The men released him; he was on his knees on the tan- gled floor of the grove, babbling in- coherently to Ferris, Some of the men smiled derisively; others turned . their backs, not caring to Witness the un: manly spectac All withdrew to some little distance, leaving Ferris and the gunman alone. A little later they heard Ferris's voice ening them. They returned, again rangivg*themselves about Hub- Bell. ‘The latter stood before them, a drooping, crushed figure of a with no trace of the overbea folence that bad previou there for a long World | Daily Magazis Magazine, -THE TRIANGLE CU BY CHARLES ALLEN SELTZER him. Me stood silent, his eyes downs cast, while Ferris spoke. “TL want you boys to witness that this here man has promised to hit the b “Meanin’ also that Rankin'll some Out of this count ‘m lettin’ him tlekled when he finds that you've been but he's gittin an’ he ain't never Playin’ him for a sucker—clatmin' to Comin’ back. That's all. It's right, L be tryin’ to find his horse thief ant Teckon?" he watd, speaking to Hubbell bein’ the horse thief yourself, That'll , The latter nodded, One of the men pure tickle Rankin « heap.” lett the grove and wan seen making ‘The gunman'’s face had grown [US Way over Yellow Horse crossing. Bhastiy; in the yellow moonlight his H* returned presently, leading Hubbel pony. Grimly and silently the men watched Hubbell he clambered into the saddle and departed down the river trail, VI. Dave Rankin had heard the news at Las Dry Bottom on his return from Vegan the day before, and now stepped out of the door of hi and saw Ferrin standing beside a looking down at Mise Martha, who was reclining in ther hammock, he smiled and stepped toward them. “I'm right sorry that I got you wrong, Ron,” he said to the latter ae he camo near and extended his hand, ‘‘but there's @ heap of things don right in this here country. For inet who'd ever think of Hubbell turnin’ out to ‘be the thief which hae een stealin’ my horses Ferris smiled gravely. “You can't al ways tell what a man is by his looks, he returned succinetly. ‘Miss Martha dropped her book and at erect, looking up with surprise, Hubbell a horse thief!" she exclaimed, “You've got it right,” returned Ran kin with a grim smile, “Ferris an’ some of his men caught him with the goods down at Yellow Horse. He's kone. Hit the breeze clean out of the country.” Rankin grinned significantly, “rm leavin’ you two to talk it over, sald, winking at Ferris, “I don't reckon that J'm ever goin’ to interfere any more.” He strode down toward the stable, halting at a distance and calling back, “Stay for dinner, Ben,” he sald. have chicken!” ‘Both watched Rankin as he dl ed into the stable. Then Miss Martha looked up at Ferris with « amile. d “Well,” she said, flashing a demure lance at him, “I'm rather glad he has gone. 1 never quite liked him.” She caught his gaze and her eyes dropped. you'—she said, “you are’ “Original,” supplied Ferris dryly. “You see,” he continued, “I aint forgot what happened the day Hubbell shot the chickens.” Miss Martha laughed, secure in her power over him. ‘'Bo haven't for- gotten?” she said, We did have ebicken for dinner that day. And a Uttle while ago I eaw Mary killing somo chickens for dinner to-day. Odd isn’t It.”’ “Awful,"* returned Ferris, He stood erect, stretching janguidly. Miss Marthe surveyed his tall figure with a glance of admiration. She rose and stood be- side the hammock, smiling significant “If you don't mind,” she sald archi far as the “you might walk with me river.” I rris stifled a yawn. “I reckon net,” he sakl slowly; “it's, too hot." He moved slowly away, leaving her stand- ing beside the hammock, her face al- ternately flushing and paling. A few steps away he looked back over hiv shoulder, grinning. You take your walk," he sald quiet! I'm goin’ to help Mary pull the feathers out of them chickens. a triumphantly to the shadows »men who had » for the ed . : of th BRE Ura (im suey, WDE E ARE You)” while he A MINUTE ~ GOING TO down behind \ TRY THE ar the edge — CASE Topay?) mselt upon} |\ 2 7 » nanan im, be forward into d Hubbell rec m. atter advanced hi ‘ | t's Hub “ - SfouR HONOR, THE [74 — ‘ >, \ DEFENDANT HAs}'/) Bieta lala THE SLEEPING, he e SICKNESS! h t him sey would be f> erfu to Paes, » mistake," he you won't @ to thein Rankin hears of ain't ketehe which you lout of Hu’ * he sald, glan Mud, IT SEEMED Litre | TRAN AGAINST SUMPIN GUESS 1 MUSTA TEEN MISTAITEN gs / Pg seen Toot TOOT, TOOT! GLANG,GLANG! ' WELL WHADDA YA KNOW AROUT THAT! iT JUST SEEMS Litre ? SUMPIN'S IN THE WAY —— a rid CHAPTER Il: The Man on the Ridge: MAN was moving among the rocks and buslies of a to high ridge. t ited he: and there-—-nolselesely like shadow, His movements were autious, catlike, and he placed his feet carefully, after the manner of the hunter stealing upon his prey. Yet something in his actions; some- thing about the grim, hard lines of his something in the furtive, doubting and cunning glances with which he scrutinized every bush, rock imed and crag in his vicinity proc! him not the hunter, but the hunte He halted often, Sometimes it behind a bush, sometimes behind « weirdly shaped rock or a gigantic boulder; frequently it was behind a clump of shrubbery. But always when ho halted it was behind something. Not once did his figure rise above th skyline And always he crouched. When he crossed an open pt ho did so on his stomach, wriggling and twisting and squirming over the hot sand, the prickly cactus and the Jagged Toe! in a tortuous fashion, slowly, with numerous on, his face wreathed in a bitter snarl, hin lips muttering curses, his eyes glittering malevolently. In such a manner might a wounded beast drag himself to his lair. There acemed to be go need for the man’s caution. Besides himself there seemed to be no living thing on the ridge; no living thing on the vast, dead plains below. In the shallow draws and gullies and on the lower ridges nothing moved; nothing moved in the great, blue arcit of the sky except the stn—a disk of shimmering silver, All was silent, peaceful, motionless, slum- Ddrous, ‘The world seemed suspended ina vacuum. And yet the man proceeded cautiously, always going toward the crest of the rid In an hour he came to the edge of fa sandy, open place, about twenty feet across, Crouching behind a mammoth boulder hoe estimated the distance with crafty, calculating eyes, On the opposite edge of the open apace was a thicket of scrub oak about fifty feet wide. Near its centre rone @ pile of Jakged rock, surmounting the ridge. Yom here @ man might view the entire surrounding country within a radius of ten miles, and be safe from discovery. For two hours the man had Kept this summit in sight; it was the goal for which he aimed, (From {t he would be able to seo many things. ‘He slipped down upon his stomach and wriggled slowly and nolselossly forward—squirming, — twisting — labor!- ously working his way toward the sorud oak thicket, In ten minutes he was at its edge. In five more he was deep into it, squatting on hands and knees, panting and exhausted For a long time he remained motion- less, Then, about to move forward, he suddenly sank flat to the tangled floor of the thicket, his eyes gleaming, his head raised, his body rigid. On the other side ‘of the thicket something had moved! For five mintates the man remained motionless. Then hjs right hand went slowly bac to his holster and was withdrawn, grasping the stock of his heavy revolver, He poked tha muzzle of the weapon through the stunted oak brush, toward point whence the JUDEE THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS WILL YOUR HONOR PLEASE HURRY, * Movement had come, Again he waited. And then presently @ voice came~low, even, but startiingly resonant tn the Jenne an ire somewhere {n these hills," It qald, “E fleger that he'll make tracks for the Colorado line—likely hittin’ Pur gatory Crosain’.” The man in the thicket showed Nis teeth In a tigerish grin, He had recog nized the voice; he knew that on the other aide of the thicket Ben Allen, the Sheriff of Colfax County, was standing scanning every foot of the surrounding country for # @limpse of lim. He knew that the man to whom Allen spoken was hin deputy; that these two met were aworn to take him back to Dr Rottom—dead or alive, ‘The grin on his face paled and was succeeded by 4 venomous aneer, They would never take him back—alive. Long ago had ho de cided on thet. ‘There was no further sound from the edge of the thicket. Evidently the deputy had coincided with the sherift's views, for he had not anmwered. Yet the man in the thicket did not move. He could easily imagine how the two men looked, atanding at the thicket's edge, watching the platne—for him, Allen he knew persofally and tt was y for him to conjure up @ mental pleture of the grim and patient sheriff, standing on the summit of the ridge, ver Great Outdoors. feaning on the mumzle of his rifle— waiting. Waiting! ‘The man in the thicket @naried. Waiting for him! He snarled again, one corner of his mouth slanting upward satirically, It seemed strange to him that Allen had anticipated hy trail; that he stood now within ten of him, awaiting his coming, Ho had always felt a ort of fear of Allen; there wae something about the grim, quiet, easy going sheriff that had always given him @ queer, qualmish sensation tn the pit of tho stomach. Ho hated Allen because of this feeling, though the men had never passed a word in But he knew that Allen had measured him; that when their eyes ‘met it was his soul that cringed away from the sherlff's—that in the sherlit's eyes was a gleam of understanding, of perfect knowledge. Allen knew him for what he was. ‘The world—Dry Bottom's ld fear him, might know him for an ¢ law: @ denperado whose reckless dix regard for human lItfe had made hin @ terror to the country; and made jis name feared wherever Men congregated But Allen did not fear him—that be knew. He could hin eyes met Allen's, a way of looking at him, of squinting his eyes at him, of studying him, which meemed to hint of @ mysterious Knowledge, It was as though Allen could read the future and knew that one day he would have to deal with the man alone, that Fate had marked them for the clash, and the gleam in Allen's eyes when he looked at the man said more plainly than words that he was measuring him, comparing him to himself, that when the clash came he would make no mistakes, And, curiously, the man came finally to understand that Allen would make no mistake. ‘Thix thought was contin- ually in the man’s mind—it became an obsession that he could not shake off. One day he and the sheriff would clash, and the sheriff would come oft him feel his inferiority; the man had uld feel it. In fught against {t, but in his heart he knew that it was a And now, concealed in th over ten feet from Allen, he r idimly that a chance was offered him He was in @ position to thwart Fa to speed a bullet that would for set at end the silent, wordless ¢ that had been between them from the JUDGE, THE firat; that would avert the elash that hi DEFENCE HAS. Z| | knew mu come. Yet it oe that Was not to take advantage of It Licey He crawled nearer the edge of the thicket, near enough to make out the figures of the two men who stood there, thelr backs to him, He slowly raise the muzzle of his weapon until it yas trained fairly upon the middl wack. But he did not press th At the instant that he had muzzle of the pon he had become aware of & sou tng that seem dry buse- 1 the hi —u peculiar, dd to express and venom that had accumulated al the Scriptural warning “Thy heei shall bruise his head ana his head shall by ‘The man's tle ise thy heel." h crawled with @ sud- den fear. in front of him, not over an arma length distant, * 4 @igant diamond-back r aw ite dirt trlangul ® t, forked tongue darting, Udless 7OUR HONOR, THE NJ eyes glittering ¢ The man nese 5 tated, slowly werlng the muzzle 0} JURY JUST DIED OF weapon, ‘Tho bussing ceased; the triangular head slowly sank, though ous, ldless eyes still glittered warning! man again raised the w. Again arose the pecullar, dry bi filling the thicket. Again the man low- ered the weapon; again the buzzing ceased, ‘The man shrank back a little his blood chilling, He saw Allen turn, and he sank prone to the floor of the thicket, among things that pricked his face and hands, He heard Allen's reckon that there rattler ain’ feclin’ exactly tickled over somethin And then arose Allen's laugh, fille with a pecullar, dry humor, as he turned his back again to the thicket ‘The man lifted his head and resumed his former posture, though retreating slightly. Again he raised the muzalo the weapon, Again th eoullar, of SAY SLIM WiEL ya | GIVE MY FREIGHT TRAIN A STAR i YAWILL HAVE ITAN AWFUL PUSH, Cos iT 18 STUCH Tari] (Hey | DING THA DING Ding | DIN 6] ) The Adventures of Frontier Heroe:, Border Maidens, “Bad Men” and Cattle Rustlers—-A Tale of bie SENGER MES = dry buzzing filled the thicket. The triangular head was raised higher this time, and the forked tongue darted more rapidly. ‘ A cold, superstitious horror gripped the man, He did not fear the snake, though he knew that the flash of bis revolver would rouse the reptile to @c- tion, And since retreating he could no longer get a clear view of Allen's anaried and twisted wcragaly oak interposed A bullet would have been deflected, the man could afford to take fo chance, He retreated @ Uttle more to give the rattler a chance to make off with good grace, But the reptile emed in no fear of him, merely low- ering its head and watching him, For a K time he lay quiet, looking at Then again he heard Allen's voice. “TL reckon we're wastin’ time standin’ he If we've missed him he's probably sneaked around the bills. In that case we'd better be hittin’ the breese te Purgatory Crossin’ 0's to head him oft.” The deputy's volce rose im assent. “He's plum slick,” he sald. “Mebbe he'll go by way of Purgatory Crosein’ an’ mebbe he'll think we're waitin’ for him there an’ sneak back to Dry Bet- tom to eo that girl of hii Allen laughed grimly. “Mebbe* be hat'd be just ike But I've fixed for that, Befere left I swore in Clem Miller an’ i; will,” he returnes him. andrews. T-reckon they'll tal ot h right and proper—if be aae back. The deputy snickered. “I'd call that rigist foxy of you," he commented; “the chances are that b plum lonesome hout seein’ his girl. An’ hungry,” added Allen, “A man that's gone for two days without grab might be accounted to have @ good ap- petite for tt. An’ if he's anyways seme to Dry Bottom he might take it his head to sneak back, trustin’ nobody'd touch him.” He laughed. ¢ | reckon that if we'd happen to east gah of him now there'd be one of Hither he'd come up tame. an’ happen be willin’ to eat our of our hands, <. he'd make a plum lovely fight. The deputy's volce was in earnest. at sot him sized up right ned fight,” he said, (To Be Continued.) SMATTER PoP yh > a [NoTHinG